Selective COX-2 inhibitors may play an important role in the treatment of prostate cancer, because overexpression of COX-2 is observed in the majority of human prostate carcinomas (Gupta et al, 2000) and these agents have demonstrated the ability to suppress tumour growth in prostate cancer cell lines (Liu et al, 2000). This evidence concerns the gene PTGS2 and prostate carcinoma.